Combined boot and glove buttoner



(No Model.)

F. G. L. HENDERSON.

COMBINED BOOT AND GLOVE BUTTONER.

No. 339,055. Patented Mar. 30, 1886.

mme 14 601;

thnirnn STATES *arnrvr Orricn.

FRANCIS G. L. HENDERSON, OF NEAVTON, "\IASSAGHUSETTS.

COWEBENED BOOT AND GLOVE BUTTONER.

SPlZtZiiF1CAT10N forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,055, datedlK/larch 30,1386.

Application filed December 22, 1885.

T0 [LZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Farmers G. L. HENDER- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCombined Boot and Glove Buttoner; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to a combined boot or shoe and glove buttoner; andit has for its object to produce as an article of manufacture a buttonerof a peculiar form adapted by reversal of its two ends to be used eitheras a boot or glovefastener, each end being specially constructed for itsparticular purpose, the said buttoner being also fiat, or practicallyso, in cross-section, so that it may be carried in a flat pocket orother book without bulging the book, and also possessing such form thatit will be the strongest where the greatest strain comes.

To the production of a combined fastener possessing such features theinvention consists in the construction and combination hereinafterparticularly described and claimed.

Figure 1 of the annexed drawings is a perspective of the combinedbuttoner on an enlarged scale; Fig. 2, a cross-section through the same.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the buttoner,composed of steel or other suitable material stamped or otherwise formedfrom a single blank, with a fork, a, at one end, the prongs of which areslightly bent toward one face of the shank of the buttoner, so that theother side, at the base of the fork, may be somewhat curved. The shank,from the bifurcated end a to about the point I), is slightly concave onone side and curved on the other longitudinally, made so preferably bydepressing the metal on one face, so as thereby to reduce the width ofthe shank and at the same time add to its strength. At the point I) theshank is widened, so as to afford a firm bearing for the thumb andfinger in grasping the buttoner to operate it. This also givesincreased. strength to the shank at that point. The end of the shankbeyond the point Z) is Serial X0. 186,419. (No model.)

formed with an elongated oval slot or eye, 0,

of such length that it will slip over the head of various sizes ofbuttons and allow the buttoner to be drawn so as to fit under thebutton-head around the button-shank. The shank at the point d, betweenthe elongated slot or eye 0 and enlarged portion 1), is reduced, so asto form a narrow neck between the eye and said enlarged portion. Thisneck allows the shank to be turned freely in divers directions in thebutton-hole without stretching or tearing the hole while manipulatingthe buttoner to grasp the button with the eye 0, and drawing the buttonthrough its hole. If the neck were not so reduced the button-hole wouldbe injured by the manipulation of the buttoner. This reduced neck,together with the converging extreme end of the buttoner, imparts such ashape, as shown,to the eye end of the buttoner that the button-hole isgradually stretched for the passage of the button, so that it will notbe torn. The enlargement b affords a broad bearing for the fingers, sothat the buttoner can be more easily and quickly turned in grasping anddrawing the button through the button-hole. The enlargement and neckthus contribute, jointly to the easy and quick buttoning of the glove.This form is not well adapted as a boot-buttoner, because the eye wouldhave to be made so large that it would injure the button-hole of theboot, and, be sides, would not be so easy of manipulation as inbuttoning a glove; hence the necessity for the bifurcated or fork end asa boot-buttoner, but the latter is objectionable as a glove-fastener,because the position in which it must be placed to draw the buttonthrough the hole throws too much strain on the softer material, of whichthe glove is made for the button-hole to stand. Each form has advantagesfor the particular uses intended for it, and has the desirability ofcombining both good features in a single buttoner. The constructionwhich I have described permits this without any sacrifice of strength ore'lficiencyto either form. It will be observed, too, that the buttoner,being made of thin or flat metal with but a slight curve or turn at oneend and practi- IOO The buttoner is not only simple and cheap in itsproduction, but is also of a most convenient form for use, and possessesthe merits of both forms of buttoners.

tween the said two parts, substantially as described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, the combined boot and glovebuttoner A,composed of the flat shank, as described, formed with thefork a, enlargement b, elongated eye a, and reduced neck d between saidenlargement and eye, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS G. L. HENDERSON.

itnesses:

VVALLIs H. BRoWNE, RUFUs (301mm.

